Members of Mountain Outreach have been trekking the areas of Whitley County and Laurel County to interview and select finalists that will have homes built for them during the summer.
“There are twenty or more applications and you have to decide who is the most worthy of a house. You have to decide who needs a hand up, not a hand out,” says Mountain Outreach employee/volunteer Nicole McGinnis.
Applicants must write down on paper the reasons why they believe they need a house and the applications are discussed by the team at Mountain Outreach. They are judged by financial positions, references, and whether or not it is a full, functioning family.
The people who are chosen to have the houses built for them must pay for the materials, but the labor comes free from Mountain Outreach. It is twenty year interest free mortgage. The recipients, and sometimes their family members, are asked to put in a hundred volunteer hours.
“The recipients are asked to volunteer to give them a sense of pride in their house,” says Mountain Outreach volunteer Danielle Keith.
Mountain Outreach has built 128 houses over the last 30 years for disadvantaged citizens of Whitley and Laurel Counties.
Mountain Outreach receives donations throughout the year from individual and corporate donors such as Tractor Supply, Bryant’s Hardware, and several local businesses in Williamsburg and surrounding areas.
“You feel so fulfilled when you realize that you’re helping somebody who thinks that there’s no hope, someone who thinks they’re at their last bottom dollar,” adds McGinnis, with a smile of achievement.
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